


The Dance

by spitshineboi



Series: Antiope and Menalippe [5]
Category: Amazons - Fandom, Antiope/Menalippe - Fandom
Genre: Dancing, F/F, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 00:59:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14884605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spitshineboi/pseuds/spitshineboi
Summary: The tavern was busy tonight. All the tables were taken and all four of the communal tables were full. Antiope and Menalippe stood near the doorway for a moment looking for an open table but there wasn't one. Antiope sighed. She had wanted to eat here since it was the night before their wedding. They'd been coming to this particular tavern since the first time Antiope asked Menalippe to meet her to discuss training. She smiled at that memory… Hippolyta had been so right. She put her hand on Menalippe's back and they turned to leave.





	The Dance

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure if anyone is really reading this but, well, here it is anyway. 
> 
> This comes the day, okay evening before chapter 2 of Death is Not Easy. You might want to check that out afterwards.
> 
> I do have to say that it is getting harder to feel as excited about these tales as I never hear from anyone anymore in regards to them, as I'm not sure who reads them. But I have at least one more, if not two, chapters left in Death is Not Easy. Please, if you read these and enjoy them please leave a message for me. Thanks.

The tavern was busy tonight. All the tables were taken and all four of the communal tables were full. Antiope and Menalippe stood near the doorway for a moment looking for an open table but there wasn't one. Antiope sighed. She had wanted to eat here since it was the night before their wedding. They'd been coming to this particular tavern since the first time Antiope asked Menalippe to meet her to discuss training. She smiled at that memory… Hippolyta had been so right. She put her hand on Menalippe's back and they turned to leave.

"Strategos!"

Antiope turned back around to see who was calling her. Dioxippe, the tavern keeper, had just finished setting up a new table, an entirely new table, near the large central fire. Antiope looked at Dioxippe like she was from Athens or as if she were the hydra and had sprouted another forty-six heads.

"What? But there isn't room," she said.

Dioxippe smiled. She knew her business well. The strategos and the lochagos had been coming to this tavern two to four times a week for many years. She would make sure there was always a table for these two, even if she had to steal her own table from the back, which is what she had done tonight.

"My own personal table Strategos," Dioxippe said, "is always here for you two."

Antiope smiled and said "Thank you Dioxippe." She and Menalippe walked over to the table to sit down. Antiope pushed Menalippe's chair in towards the table then sat down herself. They both had happy, but incredulous, looks on their faces. "Well this is a surprise, isn't it my sweet?"

"It certainly is "Menalippe said. "I wonder why it is so crowded tonight." She then turned around to face the owner and said, well she yelled really, "Dioxippe, why is it so crowded tonight?"

Dioxippe smiled and answered "Tonight's the dance contest."

"Dance contest?" Menalippe replied.

"Yes Lochagos," Dioxippe said. "To pick the best dancer of those here. I told you about this, didn't I?"

Menalippe looked back at Antiope questionably, "Did she?" she asked. Antiope shook her head no and Menalippe looked back at Dioxippe. "No," she replied "but it sounds like fun."

Dioxippe gave the two an apologetic look, "Sorry," she said. "I've placed you right next to the stage area. I'll bring your dinner in a moment. It should be fun. Folks are competing to see who dances the sexiest for someone else. It's our biggest night."

Menalippe smiled then turned back around surveying the crowd. Many of their warriors were there, as was Penthesilea and Artemis (both ypolochagoi). Orana (another ypolochagos) and her wife Alcippe were at the door looking for a place to sit. Menalippe called them over to her and Antiope's table after getting an acquiescent nod from Antiope. Smiling they both sat at the table after Antiope moved a seat closer to Menalippe so the two could sit next to each other.

"Strategos…" Orana said but was interrupted by a smiling Antiope.

"Orana, here we are just Antiope and her wife Menalippe," Antiope practiced.

Menalippe gave Antiope a loving glance. "Menalippe and her wife Antiope" Menalippe quipped with a smile.

Antiope laughed, "Yes my heart."

"Antiope," Orana said, "I wonder how one signs up for this contest. Do you know?"

Antiope opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by Dioxippe, who was bringing dinner for four, "You just sign up. If you are interested just let me know. I'll put you in the contest."

The four smiled, especially Orana and Alcippe as they hadn't ordered dinner yet. Dioxippe was a good tavern keeper. She had noticed the two joining Menalippe and Antiope and knew they would be hungry, so brought them dinner too. The dinner was a hot lentil stew with lots of vegetables served with flat bread.

Dioxippe was turning away when Menalippe said, 'Sign me up." Orana, Alcippe, AND Antiope looked at Menalippe in amazement.

"Really?" said Antiope, raising an eyebrow.

"Why not?" Menalippe answered.

Antiope, smiling, just shook her head and started eating. The other three began eating also. In about fifteen minutes the musicians arrived, set up, and started to play some music. There was someone with a toubeleki (drum), a lyre (plucked instrument), an aulis (single or double flute), a barbiton (bass plucked or strummed instrument), a pandura (similar to a guitar), a zilia (zills), and a lur (horn). They started playing music, softly, while more Amazons stuffed themselves inside the tavern all around the inside of the building; they were crowded together like fish in a tight school. Eventually the music grew louder until, finally, the first dancer stepped onto the floor.

The contest continued for hours. The dancing was wonderful; seductive or funny, it didn't really matter, women yelled, cheered, and stomped. It wasn't really a contest either, no one judged per se, the audience just measured sort of the cheering. The whole "contest" was about dancing for another; sexually gratifying or laughter causing fun. Antiope found herself smiling throughout the whole affair. This was good entertainment. Why was it that she had only heard about this this evening? It's like someone had created this just for her, them, everyone there that night.

She looked over towards Menalippe but she wasn't there. Odd. Then the next song started. Antiope turned to face the musicians. And there she was. Menalippe stood next to them with a very shy look on her face, her arms loosely out at her sides at about shoulder height forming a loose "W" with her head as the center vertex. She wore nothing save for her strophion (breast band) and perizoma (underwear) attached to her perizoma were two scarfs pinned up in different places leaving most of her legs covered. But not all, certainly not all. The scarfs draped further down over her ass and her front. They swayed slightly as she stood there, accentuating the beautiful curves of her lithe form.

At the next down-beat she started to move her hips, slowly. She rotated her hips using a figure eight move while keeping her chest, head, and arms very, very still. This was a Maya. With each movement she brought one hip up towards her rib cage and then did the same with the other by moving her feet up off the whole foot and up onto the toe individually. This move was all about the downward motion and it moved her hips the way that a multitude of gawkers hoped for whenever they looked at a beautiful woman. Menalippe undulated her torso as she moved; first puffing out her stomach and then pulling it in while doing a lower ab contraction, then an upper ab contraction, and, finally, pulling her chest up. While doing this she moved forward slowly getting closer to her love. Antiope's eyes gleamed in the torchlight. She only had eyes for the woman who would soon be her wife and hadn't noticed that Hippolyta and Phillipus had been hastily seated at the table right behind her.

Menalippe came to within three feet of her Antiope and slowly turned by turning her body with the music. Step, over, around. At the end of each turn she rotated her hips in a luscious figure eight, her legs directly below her hipbones, just changing the way her knee was situated. Very slowly moving from a bent knee to a straight knee, over and over again. She switched legs and did it using the other knees movement to move her hips. Antiope's eyes were glued to Menalippe's body and her head moved slightly as she followed her movements.

Menalippe lifted one shoulder by pulling it up, back, then down again creating a smooth circle while doing a large figure eight motion with her hip. She then did this with the other shoulder as she slowly turned again. Once done with the turn she repeated her movements but lifted her chest slowly as she moved. This was exquisite and her eyes watched and locked with Antiope's as she moved. It was obvious that she only danced for the woman who captured her heart sitting before her.

Now she did hip locks, raising one hip twice while slowly moving forward, her arms moving in snake like patterns as she moved, slowly, seductively towards her soon-to-be wife. She placed one arm up and out from her shoulder, it curved back at her elbow to touch her head. Again, she slowly turned around while her off arm, the side not curved up towards her head, did more snake-like movements. Transferring her arms and how they were placed she did this again, slowly undulating as she turned the other way. 

She was very close to Antiope now, nearly touching her as she undulated and moved her hips sensually from side to side, locking them and then popping them up, out, away from, and then closer to her love. She reached down while doing snake arms and took Antiope's sword from her scabbard and raised it slowly towards her head. Antiope always carried her sword, a fine single-edged kopis machaira with a beautiful curve to it. Menalippe was glad that she didn't have to convince her love to bring this particular sword tonight, it was, often, her go-to weapon and she always wore it. Menalippe raised the kopis slowly until it was above her head sideways with the edge up. She then placed it on her head as she retreated slowly, with beautiful hip gyrations, torso undulations, and breast lifts, as she went. She rotated her body two or three times as she moved backwards and, during the last rotation, she removed her hand from the hilt of the sword and balanced it on her head. Then, it was as if she started the dance again and, with the kopis where it was now, she did the same types of movements but added oblations and, while kneeling, even more swaying and undulation of her body, hips, and breasts. 

During this dance the crowd quieted to almost nothing. Antiope didn't notice at all, she was so in tune with her love that she didn't notice anything except her love. Menalippe stood again as she continued her dance and slowly, exquisitely, returned the sword to Antiope's scabbard. They were very close now, Menalippe just inches away from Antiope. Menalippe swayed from side-to-side as she did undulations once again, staring into Antiope's eyes trusting she would understand the love Menalippe was showing her. Antiope stared, with awe, as Menalippe moved closer, then slightly further away, and back again. Finally, Menalippe prostrated herself in front of Antiope just as the music came to an end. 

Antiope was stunned. Was this fantastic dance for her or was it for the contest? To be honest she didn't care at all. She just wanted to hold Menalippe close and thank her slowly and completely through the movements of her own body. She came out of her transfixed state and knelt in front of her soon to be wife. She reached down and drew Menalippe up to her knees and held her close. Eventually she became aware of the sound of everyone yelling, screaming, and applauding her love's dance. She didn't care. The noise became louder and Antiope took a moment to look around. The tavern was even fuller than before Menalippe's dance began. She finally saw her sister and Phillipus, standing behind where she had been seated, clapping wildly. What was going on, she wondered.

A few moments later Dioxippe walked over to the center of the staging area. She looked around at everyone there with a full and elegant smile. "Thank you all for coming tonight," she said, then continued. "I should explain to the only one who doesn't know why we are here or why we did this tonight." She looked directly at Antiope. "Strategos, this event was done for you. Menalippe devised the idea to throw a small party for you on the night before your wedding. This is it. I certainly hope you enjoyed yourself."

Antiope looked at Dioxippe in amazement. "For me?" she thought. She closed her eyes for a brief amount of time. When she opened them, she had a huge grin on her face. She squeezed Menalippe harder and gave her a long, sweet kiss. Finally, she pulled away, slightly. "Thank you," she said to her. If anything, her smile grew broader as she finally turned her head and addressed all there. "Thank you all very much." The crowd cheered. 

Just as Antiope and Menalippe rose to leave both Hippolyta and Artemis came over to them. Hippolyta lightly grabbed Antiope's arms while Artemis did the same to Menalippe. They both had huge grins on their faces and, laughing, Hippolyta said. "No Antiope. You come home with me tonight. And Menalippe, you go with Artemis tonight too."

Artemis finished her sentence then. "Yes, you two. You may not sleep with or even see each other until tomorrow morning. Come with us." With cries of frustration, the two were torn apart and taken to different places for the evening. Tomorrow they were to be wed. Tomorrow they would be able to touch and hold each other again. But that is another story already told.


End file.
